Author Archives: ronan

Ronan’s 2022 round up

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Outside of work, one of the highlights of 2022 was finally buying a place in Italy. I bought a place in the center of a medieval hill town overlooking the Adriatic Sea. When I am not working on the road, I am splitting my time between California and Italy.

New Release from Aurora
I recently did the ATMOS mixing and mastering for the latest release from multiplatinum Norwegian artist, Aurora.  After its release, Apple Music had the ATMOS version of the album as their top “Spatial Audio” recommendation.

The release is the album version of an incredible project where Aurora is part of an interactive concert experience inside the game SKY: Children of Light. It is both artistically fascinating and technologically pioneering, and an amazing thing to be connected with. Aurora and the team at ThatGameCompany gave me fantastic material to work with.

New Film for MGM
the details are under wraps, but I had a chance to record the score for an upcoming film from MGM at the Village Recorders. I used to record a lot of classical music and it was good to be back recording a big string section again.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre
The upcoming release of the new Texas Chainsaw Massacre game is doing a really interesting thing, and releasing an album that is not exactly the soundtrack, but connected to it. The music was created by Jim Bonney (who I also worked with on Mafia III) and in-game composer Wes Keltner. I mixed and mastered the stereo and ATMOS versions of the album and did a lot of re-amping of guitars. The album is dark and complex… and heavy. Learn more about it here.

AAA Game Score recording
I have been working on recording some incredible music for the score of one of the big AAA video games and am excited to tell you more about it when I am legally allowed to do so. The music is really cool!!

A New Album for GWAR
I produced, engineered, mixed and mastered the new album for the band GWAR called “The New Dark Ages” which Kerrang described as “A bonkers concept album”. They just dropped a new single that I produced, mixed, and mastered as well as helped write and played a little on it. It was fun to have the great Lzzy Hale from Halestorm guest on it. The video is great but be warned that it is very gory!! Check it out!

Gwar the cutter

New Global Collaboration with Kathleen Blackwell
There is a new single out from my longtime collaborator, Kathleen Blackwell, as part of our Project Electrico. The song, which began by recording Italian musician Zu by the canals of Venice, eventually combined parts from the United States and Mexico, including Motown legend Tony Newton on bass, former Los Lobos drummer Victor Bisetti, and José Manuel Aguilera from La Barranca.

I also worked on far more mixing and mastering projects than I can keep track of, but a few of the artists and producers I worked with this year include Georg Storhaug, Eben Aldridge, Lisa Donna, Curtis Fornadly, Miguel Tomas, Jon Erik Gretland, Aleksander Kristoffersen, Tim Hall, Chris Schlarb, James Houlahan, Dean Federick Clark, Brock Pytel, Jazzy Ash, Bryan Myers, Eight Panes of Glass, Cultivations la Paix, Bruce James, Izzy and the Finns, and more….

I am looking forward to a fun 2023.

Ronan

I have some studio gear for sale. Some pretty high end stuff.

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I am selling several pieces of mostly high end gear. Most of it, I am selling for friends that are dealing with recent deaths in the family or medical emergencies. I am not taking any money from the sales (except the 2290). All gear is located in Southern California north of L.A. and I would prefer local pick up when ever possible. 

API 500-8B 8-CHANNEL 500 SERIES LUNCHBOX RACK

Never been used. Still in the original plastic wrap. 

$400 + shipping

Royer R-121 Ribbon Microphone

Mint condition Owner says it has never been used. 

$1000 + shipping

Royer shock-mounts

Royer RSM-1 $125 + shipping

Royer AT-84  $75 + shipping

 

TC Electronic 2290 Dynamic Digital Delay

Used but in very good condition. A favorite of many mixers and guitarists. If you are checking this out, you probably already know what it is, and why they are special.

$1450 + shipping

Direct Sound EX-29 Plus Isolating Headphones

Very good condition. They may not have ever been used. 

$80 + shipping

 

Technics RS-1500 us Reel to Reel

Only used a few times. In excellent condition in original box. From the private studio of legendary producer Rick Jarrard. More info about the model. https://reel-reel.com/tape-recorder/technics-rs-1500/

$2,100 + Shipping

 

Royer R-122 MKII Active Ribbon Microphone

Mint condition This has most likely never been used. 

$1250 + shipping

Royer shockmounts

Royer RSM-1 $150

Royer AT-84  $75

  

Shure SM7B Cardioid Dynamic Microphone

Mint condition This has most likely never been used. You can see that the plastic is still like the factory wrap.

$300 + shipping

500 Series Preamps by A-Designs Audio

These are in excellent condition. (Paint is slightly scratched on the blue pre) It is rare to find these for sale anywhere, since they do not come on the used market often and are currently out of production. https://www.adesignsaudio.com/500-series-preamps

$600 each + shipping

Focal Spirit Pro Headphones

Mint condition These have most likely never been used. 

$175 + shipping

 

Video: AES-LA presents a mixing chat with Ronan Chris Murphy

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Ronan was recently invited by the Los Angeles Section of the Audio Engineering society to do an informal chat about the art of EQing reverbs that morphed into a 90 minute discussion of mixing techniques and philosophy. The event was hosted by engineer Barry Rudolph (The Beach Boys, Selena, Enrique Iglesias, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Hall and Oates, Rod Stewart…) and can a video of it can be watched below for free.  Make sure to check out the AES LA Section website to get news about future events.

 

 

 

 

A Tribute to Diego Lopez (1985-2019)

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Diego Lopez (1985-2019)

I knew I was going to hire Diego Lopez to work with me before I heard anything he had ever recorded or mixed. He came on as a volunteer intern when I was relocating my studio to Santa Monica about 8 or 9 years ago. It was a tough move that had a lot of challenges, including some things that would have pushed most people over the brink. Regardless of how tough things got, Diego kept his cool, stayed level headed and served the work. He never complained. You can teach people where to place mics, and how to use studio effects but you can’t teach character. I knew he was the kind of person I wanted working along side of me when things got crazy in recording sessions. I was blessed to have him working by my side for many years.

Thankfully, in addition to the right temperament, he also had a great ears and taste and not long after starting work as my assistant, he took over the engineer’s chair and worked as my engineer on countless projects I produced over the years. Our work gave us the privilege of being part of lots of wonderful music together and he was able to come to work with me on music in lots of cool places including Cuba, Iceland, the Faroe Island and even his beloved Oaxaca Mexico, which I fell in love with as well. In addition to making records with me, Diego helped with a lot of my educational workshops and online training including writing and producing his own Spanish language recording course that we as rightly very proud of. Diego also developed his own clients. Not long before he got sick the leader of one of Diego’s all time favorite bands, La Barranca asked him to come to Mexico City to work on a project, which was probably the proudest moment of Diego’s career.

Diego got a very aggressive form of bone cancer. After a long stretch of treatment they realized that it was highly unlikely that he would survive it. Even in one of the most devastating and stressful of situations imaginable, Diego still managed to keep his cool and he seemed to be at peace with the realities of his situation. The day before he died, I got a text from him that said, “Good news is I personally feel fine and I’m I good spirits”. In my last conversation with him, he spent more time talking about the well being of others instead of his own plight. He was cool until the end.

One of the dreams of people that write and record music is that the work we do will live on beyond us. Despite his far too short life, Diego Lopez helped bring a lot of great music into the world. His work will live on and he lives on in all of it. I am honored to have been a part of it with him.

Ronan Chris Murphy